


Skinmage

by 27dragons



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, M/M, Magic, Pre-Relationship, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:48:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29271996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/27dragons/pseuds/27dragons
Summary: The magic for making pictures move was relatively well-documented, though it was a difficult and costly process. But getting marks on the skin to react -- that was infinitely harder, complicated by the living cells of the canvas and compounded by the changeability of the shape.There was archaeological evidence of past civilizations that had dabbled in it, usually reserved for especially high-ranking leaders. But those cultures had jealously guarded those secrets, and to the best of Tony’s knowledge, no one had ever managed to actually replicate the art.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 70
Kudos: 273
Collections: Tony Stark Bingo Mark IV





	Skinmage

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MarvelousMenagerie (HiddenOne)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenOne/gifts), [monobuu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/monobuu/gifts).



> A fill for the Tony Stark Bingo. Full header block in the end notes.
> 
> Dedicated to HD and buu, for encouraging me not to break my streak. <3

Most of Tony’s tattoos had been done by Nat, a tiny little redhead who could probably snap him in half with one hand, without even jostling her hold on a piercing gun. It had taken her a while to warm up to Tony, but these days she greeted his arrival at her tattoo shop with a warm smile.

“Right on time,” she announced as the bells on the door jangled. “I’ve got the sketches done for your foot. Do you want to see them before or after I touch up the chest?”

“After,” Tony decided. That would give him a little bit longer before he had to put on his shirt and deal with the itchy soreness of clothes rubbing against the bandage.

Nat just nodded as if she’d expected that answer, which she probably had. “Hey, want to see something cool? I can trust you to keep it to yourself, right?”

“Sure. I need to sign an NDA or...?”

Nat scoffed at him and dragged off her shirt, turning to show him the ink at her lower back.

Tony had seen the tattoo before - a beautifully delicate piece that was a spider’s web with an exquisitely detailed spider at its center. But he didn’t remember the web _shimmering_ quite like that, before, as if it had been freshly gilded with dew. That was a neat effect. He leaned closer to see how it had been managed and--

“Shit!” He jumped back in surprise as the spider scuttled along one thread, and Nat started laughing. “Nat, what the fuck?” He cautiously leaned back in. It was back in place, immobile again, but while he watched, its legs shifted, rearranging themselves ever so slightly. “What-- Can I--?”

“You can touch it,” Nat said easily. “It’s all healed.”

Tony brushed the edges of the web first, and it reacted like any normal tattoo -- which was to say, it didn’t. But as he followed one spoke toward the center, the spider retreated. And yet when he leaned over to look at it from the side, it had no height. It was a flat image on Nat’s skin.

“What the hell,” he breathed. “Nat, what is this?”

She dropped her shirt again and turned to grin at him. “My new tattooist is a dermaturge.”

“Derma-- A _skinmage_?” The magic for making pictures move was relatively well-documented, though it was a difficult and costly process. But getting marks on the _skin_ to react -- that was infinitely harder, complicated by the living cells of the canvas and compounded by the changeability of the shape.

There was archaeological evidence of past civilizations that had dabbled in it, usually reserved for especially high-ranking leaders. But those cultures had jealously guarded those secrets, passing the skills verbally rather than committing them to any sort of written record. At best, a few of the spell components had been guessed at, based on inventories and certain aural remnants in preserved bodies. To the best of Tony’s knowledge, no one had ever managed to actually replicate the art.

Until now. “Holy shit,” Tony breathed.

“Yeah, that’s why I need you to keep it quiet,” Nat said. “We’ve applied for a Mystic Arts patent, but you know how long those take to be approved.”

“And you didn’t _call me?_ ” Tony demanded. “I can grease those wheels for you, you _know_ that!”

“I didn’t want her to. It’s hard to know who to trust.”

Tony turned at the new voice to see the most _beautiful_ man he’d ever seen before, tall and muscular with clear storm-gray eyes and luscious lips and an aura that positively _danced_. Long legs with thighs thick enough that a good flex might destroy those skinny jeans and an ass that made Tony’s palms itch for a touch. One arm had a sleeve of tats from the backs of his hands all the way up to his shoulder; the other arm was mechanical and had its own aura, a shimmering silvery signature that Tony had never seen before.

“Oh my god,” he whispered.

“Tony, this is James, my new tattooist. James, Tony Stark, the country’s foremost technomage.” Tony could practically _feel_ Nat’s smirk, but he honestly couldn’t pull his gaze off James to shoot her the glare she deserved.

James shoved that beautiful hand through his hair and rolled his eyes. “Call me Bucky,” he told Tony. “Everyone does, ‘cept her.”

“Bucky,” Tony repeated, half-dazed. There was a glint of dark red hiding between the layers of silver in that arm. “Bucky, I hate to be rude--” Nat snorted and Tony waved a hand in her direction dismissively. “--but were you aware that your arm is cursed?”

Bucky sighed. “Yeah. It’s mostly under control, but it flares up, now and again.” He glanced at Nat, and then looked back at Tony. “Like I said, it’s hard to know who to trust.”

“Well, if you decide to trust me, I can absolutely fix it,” Tony said. “And I can get your patent pushed through.”

Bucky snorted. “I’ve been to every cursebreaker in the city, _and_ the Sorcerer Supreme. If none of them have been able to clear it, what makes you think you’ll manage any better?”

“If it was a cursed amulet or pair of shoes, I wouldn’t even try,” Tony said. “But that curse is tied to some very sophisticated technology, and that puts the game in my court.” He spread his hands, showing the atomic structure of iron tattooed on one palm and the mystic sigils for fire, earth, and air on the other. “Give me a chance. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Bucky’s eyes darkened. “You don’t want to know.”

“He really is the best,” Nat put in.

Bucky hummed, looking down at the mechanical hand, turning it over and flexing the fingers slowly, contemplating. “An’ what’ll that cost me?” he challenged. “I ain’t dumb enough to think the country’s foremost technomage has a lot of time to kill, or that I’d be able to afford your rates.”

Tony grinned. “Let me be first in line for one of those special tattoos of yours once the patent comes through, and we’ll call it square.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title: Skinmage  
> by @27dragons  
> Card 4027  
> Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29271996  
> Square: R5 - AU: Urban Fantasy  
> Ship: Winteriron  
> Rating: G  
> Tags/Warnings: AU: Urban Fantasy, Tattoos, Magic, Pre-relationship  
> Summary: The magic for making pictures move was relatively well-documented, though it was a difficult and costly process. But getting marks on the skin to react -- that was infinitely harder, complicated by the living cells of the canvas and compounded by the changeability of the shape.  
> There was archaeological evidence of past civilizations that had dabbled in it, usually reserved for especially high-ranking leaders. But those cultures had jealously guarded those secrets, and to the best of Tony’s knowledge, no one had ever managed to actually replicate the art.  
> Wordcount: 1027


End file.
